Shadow in the Sky (GM Reference)

[Marcus Gehrcke]

Need some Gm Advice. What did you do when your player's first meet Depora? Did you have them roll any knowledge skill regarding the fact that the Drow's only exsits in myth.

How did you create that epic moment, that there are drows in Golarion?

[Splendor]

What is Saul's motivation for betraying the PC's?
-My PC's were not able to stop Angvar's group at the beginning (bad rolls and 3/4 were blinded), but they killed Angvar's henchmen. They really wanted to track down Angvar & Thuvalia. I played that by ear and had them find Angvar & Thuvalia murdered in an empty storage building (killed by Saul, but they didn't know that). When Clegg came and checked out their place, they PC's thought he was taunting Saul because he was the one who planned the robbery.
-They then all fell for his story, helped out 4 hours per day, dealt with the drunks w/o killing them, killed the snake & saved the dishwasher (antitoxin), avenged Lauru by killing Lymas, killed Braddikar, defeated the raiders and took Jasker prisoner, charm personed Jasker and found out who sent him.
-They literally did everything Saul wanted, they even though Clegg had fed Saul false information and that led to the ambush. They came in to the ambush from the NW (they stopped on the NE mound of trash to scope out the area), they noticed Kwava (humanoid shape hiding) and thought he was a sentry so they killed him first (critical hit and he went down) but they ALL failed their checks to notice that the mannequins weren't people.
-They went back to Saul to warn him that someone was feeding him false information. Told the guards out front (who they didn't recognize) to go inside and tell Saul to let them in because the meeting was an ambush. And were talking about how it was about time they went and started dismantling Clegg's business and getting their boss on top. Then I ambushed them..... The PC's though someone had charmed or dominated or replaced Saul.... because he had absolutely no reason to hurt them....

I admit, I almost changed the entire adventure to a rising criminal organization game.

[Joana]

Remember, while the PCs' goal may be to become a rising power in Riddleport, Saul is an older man who has been there, done that, and knows how it ends: with a knife in your back. His goal is just to make some quick cash and skip town with his drow girlfriend.

As written, the adventure assumes that the PCs have foiled his plan by preventing Angvar from stealing the money and delivering it to him. In your game, you have a problem: Saul apparently did get the stolen money. So you have to figure out why he kept the business running. Maybe he's greedy and wants more money and thinks that with the PCs' help, he can get even more.

How about this? By the end of book 1, Depora is aware that the meteorite is about to hit and wants to get to Devil's Elbow. She has no further use for Saul, so she convinces him that the PCs have betrayed him. She has access to the Gold Goblin through the smuggler's tunnel, so she can plant evidence easily. That could easily anger Saul enough that he wants to see the party dead, and Depora just wants him out of the way so she can get to Devil's Elbow unencumbered; she doesn't care which side kills who.

If Saul was killed in the combat, speak with dead could reveal Depora's existence and what she told him; if he survived, the PCs can try to convince him he was lied to; and if they're still mystified, Depora can taunt them with the truth when they finally discover her.

[Kelseus]

I am putting together an update for Second Darkness for Pathfinder 2.

You can find it here Second Darkness P2 Update